Potato harvester



Aug. 10 1926.

G. oRTH POTATO HARVESTER Filed Dec. 15, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Ang. 10, 19.25.

ill rl" as GEORGE 03TH, OF RIVEREAD, NEW' YORK.

POTATO HARVESTER.

Application filed December My present invention pertains to means :tor harvesting potatoes, and it vhas for one of its objects the provision ot' a potato harvester adapted to carry receptacles for s the reception of potatoes, and equipped fwith eiiicient 'means for freeing potatoes from clods of dirt en route between the groundy andthe said receptacles.

"llothe attainment of the foregoing, the invention yconsists in the improvement as I ereinatter described and definitely claimed.

ln the accompanying drawings, forming part vof'tliis specification Figure 1 is a side elevation of the potato harvester constituting the preferred em` bodiinent of my invention.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal vertical. sectionpot'the same.

Figure 3 isa transverse sect-ion taken inv 2G the plane indicated by the` line 3 3 ot Fig-l nre 2.

ligurelis a fragmentary plan view illustrative otj the resilientfingers for clearing dirtk Vtroni thepotatoes incident tothe upA ward` and rearward passage of the potatoes in the harvester.

z'llignre 5 is a detail said sets ofv lingers. A.Similar numerals of reference designate corresponding partsin all ot theviews of 1l drawings.

Lil

plan view of one of Among Yother elements my novel potatd harvester comprises a-n appropriate main trarne lequipped at its orwardand lowerl is supported byfan axle- 3fon which are ground wheels the forward portionot the main frame 1 is equipped with aY forwardly Y extendlf' ingbeain' `supported by a ground wheel a seatsupport 7 in such manner that the posit-ion of the plow 2 may be nicely regulated by adjusting and adjustably fixing a Vhand lever 8 arranged in convenient proximity to a driver seat 9.

Carried by the frame 1 is an endless conveyor 10 preferably ina-de up of links 11 and transverse rods 12. The said linksll serve to torni side chains, and the said side chains are supported by forward idler sprockets 13 and rear guard sprockets le, the sprockets le being fixed to a transverse shaft 15. Also ziXed to the sliatt l5 are spur gears 16 which are rneshedY with comparatively: large spur gears v17 lined with respect to g the of the bags 2O with potatoes.

end with arplowr2. The saidmain frame 1V s, 'and it will be noted that.kv

andl connec-t`edwith the main fra-me 1Y 15, 19.24. serial No. 756,085.

ground wheels Lil. From this it follows that when the harvester is in motion the ground wheels 'il will drive the conveyor-10 so that theupper'stretch of the said conveyor moves upwardly and rearwardly. Appropriate means on the `frame 1 is provided at 18 for the support of the lower stretch of the endless'` conveyor.

Carried by the rear portion of the main Jranne'l is a transverse rod 19 on which removable bags 2O may be suspended after the manner shown in Figures l and y2. v

Connected to and'disposed below the upper rearportion of the main frame l is a platform 21 on which baskets 22er other suitable receptacles are removably superposed as shown inFiguresl and 2. l

.Connected to .and pendent from the rear portionot the frame 1 isa `vertically ,disposed conduit 23 in the center of the lower portion of which is pivoted at 24C a gate 25.asshown in Figure 2. l y

It will be gathered from the foregoing that by use of my novel harvester the dug potatoes instead ot being deposited on the ground are carried to receptacles 22, and said receptacles are utilized for the fillingl A From this it follows thatit is important that the po tatoes be 'freed of dirt precedent to the cle-- liv-ery ofthe potatoes to the receptacles 22.

Therefore, l provide the cage wheel 30 and the two sets of resilient ngers 31 shown in Figures 2 to 5. The cagev wheel 30 mounted to loosely turn about a center 32 on the. main trarne 1 and is made up ot heads preferably shaped as shownand transverse rods 33, Figure 9 interposed between L) and carried by the arms of the said he: The' cage wheel 30is designed and adapted by cooperation with the upper'stretch of the endless conveyor and elevator 10 to break clods orp dirt from the potatoes, it being un derstood in this connection that the cage wheel 3G will be rotated'by the potatoes and clods of dirt thereon incident to the upward passage of the potatoes and clods of dirt under the wheel 30.

After the breaking of the clods of dirt from the potatoes the setsr of resilient lingers 31 y.'@fnown in the rear of the cage wheel 30 will operate to clear practically all of the dirt from the potatoes, whereupon the dirt will gravitate through the endless conveyor 10 while the potatoes on said conveyor will be carried rearwardly and upwardly and-dis charge into the before mentioned conduit 23. The resilient fingers 81 are preferably arranged as illustrated in Figure 4L so that the fingers 3l of each set will be alined with the spaces between the lingers 3l of the other set. 'Each set of the fingers 3l is car ried by a head 40, and each of the said heads 410 is held against turning at its ends and on the frame l, Figures l, 2 and Il. T he free ends of the resilient fingers 8l rest adjacent to the upper stretch of the conveyor 10, and from this it follows that while the said fingers 3l will permit the upward passage of potatoes the fingers 3l may be depended upon to wipe or remove practically all dirt from the potatoes. ln virtue of this when the potatoes are discharged into the conduit 28 they will be practically free from dirt.

ln the practical use of my novel harvester, the harvester is drawn across a field behind. draft animals or behind a tractor, the plow 2 serving incident to the traverse to dig potatoes from the ground, and the conveyor l() servin to carry the potatoes and dirt thereon upwardly and rearwardly under the cage wheel 30 and under the resilient fingers 3l, in the manner and for the purpose before described. From the conveyor l() the potatoes are caused to pass into the upright conduit 23 in which the potatoes wiil `gravitate. and be discharged into one of the receptacles 22. `When the receptacle 22 is filled with potatoes, the gate 25 is shifted on its pivot 2li and then said receptacle 22 is removed for the discharge of its potatoes into one of the bags 20.

t will be apparent. from the foregoing that my novel harvester provides for theV cleaning of the potatoes after the digging thereof and also provides for the convenient saclring; of the cleaned potatoes, and this without the necessity of any potatoes being handled by hand.

it will be understood froin'the foregoing that without affecting my invention7 the main frame l and its appurtenances may be of any construction compatible with the purpose of my invention.

lt will also be understood from the foregoing that the construction illustrated constitutes the preferred embodiment of my invention, but l do not desire to be understood as confining myself to said 'construction, my invent-ion being defined by my appended claims within which structural changes may be made without departure from my invention.

Having described my invention, what-I claim and desire to secure by Letters-Patent, is

l. ln a potato harvester, the combination of a wheeled frame, a plow carried thereby, Y an endless conveyor carried by said frame and having a longitudinal inclined upper stretch arranffed with its lower portion adjacent to the plow, means for driving said conveyor, a cage wheel mountedl to rotate above and in spaced relation to thelower portion of the upper stretch of the conveyor and havingspaced transverse rods, and a set of resilient spaced fingers arranged in rear of the said cage wheel and carried by the frame and having the free ends of thc fingers arranged adjacent to the upper stretch of the conveyor for the purpose'of 75 freeing dirt from the potatoes.

2. ln a potato harvester, the combination of a wheeled traine, a plow carried thereby, an endless conveyor carried by said frame and having a longitudinal inclined upper stretch arranged with its lower portion ad- Y jacent to the plow, means for driving said conveyor, a cage wheel mounted to rotate above and in spaced relation to the lower portion of the upper stretch of the conveyor and having spaced transverse rods, a transverse series of longitudinal spaced resilient fingers carried by the frame and disposed in rear of the cage wheel:` and having` the free ends of the fingers arranged adjacent to the upper stretch of the conveyor, and a second set of spaced resilient fingerscarried by the frame and -spaced in rear `of the firstnamed set and with the ends of the fingers adjacent to the upper stretch of the conveyor; the fingers of each set being longitudinallyralined with the spaces between the lingers of other set. Y

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

GEORGE GRTI. 

